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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 219
13 - 19 November 2004


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UNMEE deputy representative appointed
ETHIOPIA: Musicians join politicians to fight HIV/AIDS
ETHIOPIA: Tourism to be harnessed for poverty alleviation
ETHIOPIA: Opposition parties urged to participate in elections
ETHIOPIA: Rains fall in Somali region as shortages persist
SOMALIA: Inter-governmental organisations call for reconciliation
SOMALIA: European Commission funds new parliament
SUDAN: Government, SPLM/A sign memorandum of understanding
SUDAN: UN Secretary-General urges quick end to peace talks
SUDAN: UN urged to stem continuing violence in Darfur
SUDAN: Environmental issues affecting relief efforts in Darfur - report


ALSO SEE:

EAST AFRICA: Security Council members set for Nairobi meeting at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44196


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UNMEE deputy representative appointed

The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a new deputy
special representative for the UN mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
The new deputy, Sissel Ekaas, a Norwegian national was previously the
Director of the Gender and Population Division in the UN Food and
Agricultural Organization's (FAO's) Sustainable Development Department,
according to UN News.

Ekass would be based in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and is expected to
assume her new post by the end of November, UN News said. She will be one
of two UNMEE deputy special representatives. The other deputy,
Cheikh-Tidiane Gaye, is based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44199]


ETHIOPIA: Musicians join politicians to fight HIV/AIDS

Top Ethiopian musicians joined hundreds of politicians on Thursday to
launch their own charity song with inspiration from the United Kingdom's
Band Aid success, organised by famed musician Bob Geldof. The artists and
500 parliamentarians performed an anti-AIDS song called "Find a Solution",
which they hope will help to end stigma in the country. The idea of the
charity song came from the National Coalition for Women Against HIV/AIDS,
a local anti-AIDS charity group headed by prominent women in the country.

Azeb Mesfin, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's wife and one of the
founding coalition members, said she hoped the song would raise awareness.
She told IRIN that songs are a traditional African way of informing
communities. The piece will be sung across the country to warn of the
dangers of HIV/AIDS.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44200]


ETHIOPIA: Tourism to be harnessed for poverty alleviation

Ethiopia is to become one of the first countries to be targeted under a
United Nations scheme harnessing the country's tourism potential in order
to tackle entrenched poverty. Francesco Frangialli, secretary general of
the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) announced on Tuesday that Ethiopia
would benefit from a WTO-led, development-friendly, tourism scheme. The
Sustainable Tourism Eliminating Poverty initiative focuses on encouraging
sustainable tourism - social, economic and ecological - to ease poverty.

"It will target the world's poorest countries, particularly in Africa and
developing states in general," Frangialli told IRIN at the opening of a
three-day tourism conference in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia, with its seven
world-heritage sites, is a magnate for tourists, he said. The WTO, which
was accepted as a UN specialised agency late last year, argues that
tourism is an effective weapon in helping underdeveloped nations achieve
the 2015 anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals. Globally, the tourism
industry has created 100,000 new jobs a year, accounting for 11 percent of
global employment.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44178]


ETHIOPIA: Opposition parties urged to participate in elections

Armed opposition groups have been urged by the Ethiopian government to lay
down their weapons and democratically contest the forthcoming national
elections. The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) said that political power "comes only from the ballot box". In a
statement issued by the information ministry on Saturday, the government
said "creating a democratic government by the people and for the people"
fosters development.

"Universal practice has proved that a better living standard is attainable
in countries where political power comes only from the ballot box and not
from the barrel of a gun," it said. Several groups in the country have
been linked to an armed struggle - the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) and the All Ethiopian
Socialist Movement (AESM). OLF rebels have fought for independence of the
southern Oromo region since 1993, alleging government discrimination
against the Oromo people, the largest ethnic group.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44176]


ETHIOPIA: Rains fall in Somali region as shortages persist

Rains have fallen in Ethiopia's drought-hit Somali region but many areas
still face shortages, the regional government's emergency arm and Save the
Children (SCF-UK) warned. "The general food security situation in the
Somali region is below normal to poor," they said in a report. "Across the
region, livestock prices are generally lower than normal due to poor body
condition, but prices are picking up in some markets as animal body
condition improves."

The report, issued on 9 November by SCF-UK and the Somali Disaster
Prevention and Preparedness Bureau added: "Local cereal prices are higher
than normal in most markets, and this is negatively affecting access to
food by the poor groups. Malnutrition is still a major concern in most
parts of the region." It noted that mortality rates in two districts were
between 2.9 per 10,000 per day for pastoral children and 2.0 per 10,000
per day for agro-pastoral children. The Sphere Project - an
internationally agreed humanitarian charter for disaster response - notes
that mortality rates above 2.3 per 10,000 per day in sub-Saharan Africa
should be seen as an emergency.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44148]


SOMALIA: Inter-governmental organisations call for reconciliation

A group of inter-governmental organisations operating in Somalia has
welcomed progress made by the Somali National Reconciliation Conference
(SNRC) and urged the international community to assist the country's newly
formed institutions. The organisations, in a statement issued in Nairobi
on Thursday, said "support must also be given to local authorities,
traditional leaders and civil society to create an effective, strong and
accountable Somali system." "Particular attention must be given to the
formation of a society respectful of human rights and the protection of
the most vulnerable," they added.

The statement quoted Zoe Daniels, the NGO consortium's focal point as
saying: "We believe that Somalia has made tremendous progress towards
establishing a new government after over a decade of conflict. At this
critical time we encourage the Security Council to assist the Somali
people to reconcile and establish the strong foundations on which to build
a just and lasting peace."

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44218]


SOMALIA: European Commission funds new parliament

The European Commission (EC) has approved a project to support the newly
constituted Parliament of Somalia. In a statement on Wednesday, the EC
said it "has approved a project to support the newly formed Transitional
Federal Parliament". The parliament was set up in September after almost
two years of peace talks.

An EC official told IRIN that the two-year project will cost =801.9 million
(US $2,476,502). The project will be implemented by the Association of
European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA), an international
parliamentary organisation based in Europe, the statement said. The
project is geared towards capacity building of the new parliament, said
the official. "Areas of need will be identified in consultation with
Somali MPs," he added.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44198]


SUDAN: Government, SPLM/A sign memorandum of understanding

The Sudanese government and the southern-based Sudanese People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed a memorandum of understanding on
Friday in which they agreed to conclude a final peace deal by the close of
the year. "The parties declare their commitment to expeditiously complete
negotiation - on ceasefire agreement and implementation modalities so as
to conclude and sign the comprehensive peace agreement no later than 31
December 2004," the memorandum said.

The Sudanese state minister in the office of the president, Yahya Hussein
Babikar, signed on behalf of the government, while the SPLM/A main
negotiator, Nhial Deng, signed for the SPLM/A. The 15 members of the UN
Security Council who were meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, each
signed as witnesses. The chief negotiator in the Khartoum-SPLM/A talks in
Kenya, Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo, signed on behalf of the IGAD facilitators.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44217]


SUDAN: UN Secretary-General urges quick end to peace talks

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday called for a quick
signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government
and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), saying such a
deal would catalyse efforts to resolve the conflict in the western region
of Darfur. "The effects of the delay [in signing a peace pact between
Khartoum and the SPLM/A] are felt not only in the south, but elsewhere
too, as conflict spreads to more parts of the country," Annan told members
of the UN Security Council at a meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

"The devastating conflict in Darfur is glaring evidence of this." "There
is no time to waste," Annan added. "The speedy conclusion of the
North-South talks would not only curb the further spread of conflict to
other parts of the country, it would also serve as the basis and catalyst
for the resolution of existing conflicts."

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44205]


SUDAN: UN urged to stem continuing violence in Darfur

A human rights group has urged the United Nations Security Council to take
immediate action to reverse continuing violence and insecurity in the
strife-torn Darfur region of western Sudan to avert further displacement
of civilians.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a 43-page report entitled "If We Return, We
Will Be Killed", released on Monday, said there was a continuing climate
of violence and insecurity in Darfur. It called for an urgent deployment
of an expanded international protection force, especially near the camps
where many of Darfur's 1.6 million displaced persons live. "The Sudanese
government continues to terrorise its own citizens, even in the face of
the UN Security Council arriving in Africa," Peter Takirambudde, executive
director of HRW-Africa Division said in the report.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44160]


SUDAN: Environmental issues affecting relief efforts in Darfur - report

The lack of attention for environmental and natural resource issues is
undermining the effectiveness of the relief efforts in camps for
internally displaced persons in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, a
UN rapid-environmental assessment found. The assessment, published on 11
November, investigated the links between the Darfur crisis and natural
resource issues in order to incorporate environmental consideration into
humanitarian response and rehabilitation efforts.

The report found that environmental problems, including water and waste
management issues, have emerged in some camps. Poorly drained wastewater,
for example, created pools of stagnant water that could contribute to the
spread of disease. "Although clear standards exist for sustainable water
use and sanitation provisions, these guidelines were not always applied,
even when solutions were known," Charles Kelly, the lead researcher, told
IRIN on Thursday. "People are overstretched in their time, [and] they
simply have no time, staff, or resources for these second-tier issues."

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44147]


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